An exchange student asked: Why does Sweden have a Day? What’s so special about Sweden in Singapore? The question was probably also provoked by the fact that everyone claims that half of the exchange students at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are Swedish (though that is a slight over-exaggeration, it’s only about 10%). Certainly there is some reason behind the number of exchanges taking place between the two countries, but whatever the cause, it might be that Swedish students simply fall in love with Singapore, and Singaporean exchange students fall in love with Sweden. At Sweden Day we all come together, sacrificing our time and energy to make it happen, sharing our experiences, and spreading the love.

Sweden Day began back in 2006 on the initiative of Professor Sven Pettersson from Karolinska Institutet (KI). It has grown to become an anticipated biyearly event at the National University of Singapore (NUS), but this semester it was also held at NTU for the first time. Event manager Hanna Manneby, working on behalf of KI coordinated a troupe of about 40 students, both on exchange from Sweden and Singaporeans who had been on exchange to Sweden, as they informed about Swedish Universities and life in Sweden, offered gingerbread cookies and held the Swedish Lucky Draw. Besides eager and informative students in blue and yellow T-shirts representatives from the Swedish Embassy including His Excellency ambassador Mr Ingemar Dolfe, Karolinska Institutet led by President Professor Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson as well as education representatives from NUS, NTU and A*STAR respectively were present to answer questions.

This year the Sweden Day was made even more special on account of it being the 200^th anniversary of the Karolinska Institutet. Two interesting lectures were held by KI Professor Emeritus Arne Ljungqvist, a world class leading expert on doping in Sports for over 40 years and the Dean of research at KI Professor Martin Ingvar.. The bi-centennial festivities were crowned by tailor made KI 200 year Birthday cakes given both at NUS and NTU. These cakes gave a nice finish following the delicious meatballs and lingonberry jam catered by Fika Café of Singapore at NTU.

So how can we sum up our experience from Sweden Day? For one, though it was hectic and nervous before Sweden Day, we all already miss the bustle of the event. Secondly, the people we met on Sweden Day – both Singaporeans who have been on exchange to Sweden and those dreaming about it – made some Swedes incredibly homesick. Everybody had lots of great stories to tell and made even native Swedes want to go back home to experience Sweden!

So if you are staying in Singapore and feel like taking a quick break “in Sweden” you will get another chance at enjoying the great company of the dedicated students and the enthusiastic, hard-working organizers behind this enjoyable event. We hope to see you all next year!

/The SwedenDay group

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